November first was a very nice and quiet night in Western Europe, besides the slight cold and wind all was normal. No one expected the morning of the second to be such a great disaster. On November second 2023, According to Smart Energy International, France was hit by Storm Ciarán, which was one of the worst storms Western Europe has seen since 1987.
Smart Energy International explained how local news stations released facts about how the storm reached winds of up to 170km/h (105mph). The storm dumped 8 inches of rain, flooding most of the streets. The intense wind knocked down trees and branches killing multiple people. According to a senior meteorologist at the U.K. government weather agency, “The storm is starting to lose the energy it had when it first arrived.” The storm hitting land caused it to decrease greatly in power for people more inland but still devastating people on the coast.
The storm caused more than 1.2 million people to lose power, killed 12 people, and left 16 injured. It caused many flights to be canceled with no safe way to get off the ground, and started up traffic across many highways creating multiple crashes. According to AP News, a truck driver was killed when his truck was hit with a tree. As of November 6th, more than 90% of people have their power back. News reporters were shocked after not hearing anything about the storm. None of the meteorologists in the country predicted that this would happen overnight, let alone devastatingly take out so much power. It was overall such a surprise to the country and part of the reason why so many were killed or injured. So many meteorologists had suggested that the storm will not reach any danger in power. Due to climate change however storms like Ciarán have been unpredictable.
